


Just a Little Holiday Blackmail

by tentsubasa



Series: Just a Little Holiday Blackmail [1]
Category: Kiniro no Corda | La Corda d'Oro
Genre: F/M, Friendship, Gen, Humor, Song Lyrics
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-18
Updated: 2014-09-18
Packaged: 2018-02-17 20:53:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2322839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tentsubasa/pseuds/tentsubasa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nami Amou, journalist and schemer extraordinaire, has managed to blackmail the male concours participants into holding a boy-band Christmas concert to raise money for the Journalism Club. With their secrets on the line, how much are the boys willing to endure both on and off the stage? Songs by (in order) *NSync, WHAM!, 98 Degrees, All-4-One, Backstreet Boys, and Simple Plan.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just a Little Holiday Blackmail

**Disclaimer: I do not own _Kiniro no Corda_ _/La Corda d'Oro_ or any affiliates. I don't own any of the songs featured in this story either.**

**Thoughts are in italics within quotes. Song lyrics are in bold because I don't know how to do the formatting for block quotes.**

***NSync's "Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays":<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeLfuIzF6v8>.  
**

* * *

“I can’t _believe_ we have to do this!” Ryoutaro raged again. He cut an imposing figure as he paced the small dressing room with long, swift strides, his black pants a blur as they moved across the floor. Eventually he stopped and leaned against the wall. His tan, knit turtleneck was beginning to get a little warm.

“Get over it,” Len grumbled in response as he leaned his cheek on his knuckle, the cream-colored cardigan over a light-blue dress shirt cushioning his elbow as he leaned it on the counter. He crossed his black-clad legs as he sat by the mirror. “I’m tired of listening to your childish whining.”

Before the two could launch into yet another argument, Azuma stepped in between them, hands raised in a pacifying gesture. Hair tied back in a low ponytail, he sported a deep maroon turtleneck with a brown suede jacket and black pants. “Now, now, calm down. It will be over before you know it.”

In the corner, Keiichi pointed to the floor and then up to the ceiling, murmuring the words as he performed the actions. In jeans, white turtleneck, and brown plaid ski vest, he looked like he was on his way to a date.

“Please stop!” Ryoutaro groaned. “If I have to think about that choreography anymore, I’m going to forget it!”

“You’ll be fine. Amou-san said that you’re one of the best dancers out of the five of us.”

Ignoring his senpai’s encouragement, Ryoutaro bemoaned again, “How did we get ourselves in this mess anyway?”

“We were blackmailed, or did you forget already?” Len answered sarcastically.

Ryoutaro narrowed his eyes at his fellow second-year. “This situation already sucks hard; I don’t need lip from you on top of it.”

As the two boys continued to argue, Kazuki sighed and tried to lend his peace-making skills to the mix. Unfolding his long legs from the table, he joked, “Hey, it could be worse. We could all have to wear the same thing.”

His kouhai blandly looked at him as they surveyed his outfit: black skinny jeans over tennis shoes; a green-striped, long-sleeved shirt; and a red-and-black flannel plaid shirt tied around his waist. A good thing they didn’t all have to wear the same thing indeed.

Knowing they didn’t like his clothes, he pouted cutely. “At least we don’t have to wear _costumes_.”

Everyone acknowledged that.

“And we don’t have to do anything extremely embarrassing,” Kazuki continued to encourage cheerfully. Then his face fell. “Well, except for me,” he mourned.

Ryoutaro snorted unsympathetically. “That’s because you’re totally whipped. The moment Amou even hints at your secret, you fall over yourself promising to do whatever she wants.”

Kazuki gave him a sad smile. “Yeah, I know….” Absently, he remembered the day all of their lives were ruined.

It had started out a nice day. It really had. The sun was shining, and a touch of Fall was in the air as the Summer slowly withdrew to slumber until the following year. He was early, all his homework had been easy, he had woken up feeling refreshed, Mom had made his favorite foods for breakfast just because—basically the day couldn’t have started off any better. It all went downhill once he got to his shoe cubby.

The first thing he noticed when he opened the door was that there was a note in there. For a moment he just stared at it in confusion. Why was there a note in his cubby? Then his eyes widened. Was it possible? Yunoki always received so many of them. Was it possible that this was a-a-a l-l-l-love le-le-letter?! He immediately snatched it up to give it a more thorough examination. Pink envelope, check. Heart sticker, check. Addressed to him, check. His heart lifted for a second. Could it possibly be from Kaho-chan? A dreamy smile crossed his face as he went momentarily to la-la land.

Unfortunately, more careful examination of the handwriting concluded that it wasn’t from her. Now he was troubled. Someone liked him, but he liked Kaho-chan. Should he ignore it? Should he read it? How should he respond? He couldn’t tell this mystery girl that he liked someone else. It was his deepest, darkest, best-kept secret. He hadn’t even hinted to Yunoki that he had a crush on someone.

With a firm set of his mouth, he opened the envelope. He should show proper respect to this girl’s feelings even if he would turn her down. He smiled a bit sadly as he pulled the contents from their wrapping. After all, she was braver than he was.

But as he read the letter, a sinking horror clutched his heart. For like a wolf in sheep’s clothing, this innocent-looking love letter was actually blackmail of the foulest sort. “I know you like Kahoko Hino,” it read, “and if you don’t do what I say, I’m going to tell her how you feel. Meet me in Room 506 of the General Studies’ Wing at 3:30 this afternoon. We’ll talk more then. –Nami Amou”

All the color drained out of his face as the note fluttered to the floor from his nerveless fingers. She knew. She _knew_. _How_ could she know? He had been so careful! He hadn’t told a soul! And…and she’d _tell_ too! His hands went clammy. If she told Kaho-chan, he’d lose any shot he had! Scooping up the note, he furtively looked around to see if anyone had seen. Good. The coast was clear. He stared at the note again, begging the words to erase themselves from before his eyes, but to no avail. Hearing the sound of more chattering classmates entering the building, he quickly changed his shoes and rushed off to class. The note sat like a leaded weight deep in his pocket.

Kazuki groaned inwardly as he walked into the empty room after school. He was early, ridiculously early. At first he tried sitting and waiting quietly for his fate, but in his agitated state, he just couldn’t stay still. He fidgeted, twiddled his thumbs, paced the floor, anything to make the time go by. Was it just him, or had time slowed to an agonizing crawl? He froze like a deer in headlights as the door cracked open. Here she came....

It was Tsuchiura.

With twin looks of confusion, the two boys stared at each other. “What are you doing here?” they asked at the same time.

“Uh…I…uh…I’m-err…I’m…I’m waiting for someone.”

“Yeah…me too….”

Both of them turned as the door opened again, revealing a surprisingly alert Keiichi. Azuma soon followed. All four boys looked around at the others with puzzled looks.

“Are you also here to meet Amou-senpai…?” Keiichi asked his speech coming forth at a more normal pace.

Ryoutaro frowned as he cocked a hip on a desk. “What’s going on here?”

“What’s going on,” Nami announced as she dragged in a highly annoyed Len by the arm, “is that I have a particular…task I’d like you to do for me.”

“And if we refuse?” Len countered with a voice like winter.

She gave him a smug, slit-eyed smile. “Then you know what happens.” Leaving Len to his suppressed frustration, she turned to the others. “Now that we’re all here, I have a proposition for you.” She smiled brightly. “I want the five of you to put on a Christmas concert to help raise money for the Journalism Club.”

Len sniffed. “You could have just asked instead of resorting to such tactics. We _have_ played together in the past.”

“Ah, ah, ah,” she wagged her finger at him. “There you go assuming what I want and jumping to conclusions. Dangerous business you know, assuming things.” Her eyes held a gleeful, evil gleam. “You five are going to sing.”

Pandemonium broke out.

“Sing?!” Kazuki cried in alarm.

“Are you out of your mind?!” Ryoutaro shouted.

“What kind of stupid idea is that?” Len sneered.

She frowned at the protesting boys. “Do you want me to make good on my threat? I will, you know.”

That shut them up pretty quickly.

Azuma leaned back with his arms crossed. “This certainly is an interesting proposition you have brought up.”

“What…are we to sing…?” Keiichi cocked his head to the side, ever focused on the music aspect.

Nami positively beamed at the two. They were being very reasonable about the whole thing. “You’ll be doing American songs. Mostly romantic,” she quelled the beginning of a protest from Ryoutaro with a glare, “because girls absolutely love guys who sing, and we want to pack that auditorium to bursting.” She passed out contracts to each boy. “This will ensure that you’ll show up to rehearsals and dance practice.”

“ _Dance_ practice?!” Kazuki exclaimed in horror.

“Yes, _dance practice_. You boys are good looking, but you’re going to have to do at least a little choreography or it’ll get boring.”

Kazuki huffed a bit at the backhanded compliment as he reluctantly read the paper.

As one-by-one they handed back the contracts, Nami’s grin stretched even wider. Of course they all signed. What else could they do?

Once she collected all the contracts, she seemed to become more calm and professional. Kazuki couldn’t help but wonder deep inside if she felt a bit bad about doing this to them. He supposed it was for a good cause, even if it would be extremely embarrassing.

And so, the arduous three-and-a-half months up to Christmas Eve began.

Back in the present, Ryoutaro waved a hand in front of the green-haired boy’s face. “Hello? Anyone there?”

“Huh? Oh, sorry. Just thinking.”

The younger boy nodded in understanding. “I’m sorry for saying that; this is just really beginning to get to me.” He smiled wryly. “I don’t think I’ve ever been this nervous before.”

“It’s just another performance,” Len dismissed.

For once, Ryoutaro didn’t give a snarky comeback. “It is, but when I play piano, I know that I’m not going to completely and utterly fail and humiliate myself.” He clenched his fist. “This…I don’t know.”

Throwing a companionable arm around his kouhai’s shoulders, Kazuki grinned widely at him. “Hey, if we suck, then we suck.”

“And it would serve Amou-san right,” Azuma added with an impish twinkle in his eye.

At that, all the boys began to laugh, letting out the stress.

Until the knock came at the door signaling it was time for them to go onstage.

They all looked at each other nervously until Keiichi solemnly put forward his hand. “Together.”

With determined smiles, the others nodded and threw their hands into the pile. “Together.”

And with this spirit, they began their walk on death’s row.

~*~

Under the cover of darkness, Azuma took a deep breath to steady his nerves. Figures the first song of the night started off with a solo. “ _This is just another performance like any other. You can do this._ ” A sardonic smile flashed briefly across his features. His whole life was basically a performance; this was just another small part of the grand play.

As the music poured out from the speakers, he counted beats in his head. The roar from the audience was deafening as he stepped into the lone spotlight. “ **Merry Christmas…and Happy Holidays**.”

The other spotlights hit their marks. “ **Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas / Happy Holidays** ,” the boys sang in four-part harmony. Criss-cross and turn.

As the others bobbed in time to the music, Azuma strolled the stage doing the ridiculous hand gestures Amou-san insisted he use.

**We've been waiting all year for this night**  
And the snow is glistening on the trees outside  
And all the stockings are hung by the fire side  
Waiting for Santa to arrive

He flashed his most charming smile.

**And all the love will show**  
'Cause everybody knows  
It's Christmastime and  
All the kids will see  
The gifts under the tree  
It's the best time of the year for the family

He walked backward into a pyramid with the others.

“ **It's a wonderful feeling** ,” they sang as they danced.

**Feel the love in the room**  
From the floor to the ceiling  
It's that time of year  
Christmastime is here

Slowly bring both arms down in a forward arc. “ **And with the blessings from above**.” Lean to the side and sweep down a pointed finger in another arc. “ **God sends you his love**.” Spread arms grandly out. “ **And everything’s okay / Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays** ,” they finished as they began stepping side-to-side.

“ **Merry Christmas** ,” they snapped down by their hips, “ **Merry Christmas / Happy Holidays**.”

Kazuki gulped and stepped forward trying to look excited. “ **Bells are ringing / It's time to scream and shout**.”

“ **Scream and shout** ,” they echoed.

“ **And everybody's playing 'cause school's out**.” He smiled more easily, starting to get into it.

**Celebrating this special time we share  
Happiness 'cause love is in the air**

**And all the love will show  
'Cause everybody knows**

He punctuated the words with finger jabs, “ **It's Christmastime** ,” flash of smile, “ **and / All the kids will see / The gifts under the tree / It's the best time of the year** ,” high note, “ **for the family**.”

He moved back with a flushed grin as the audience cheered for him. All of them were starting to pick up the enthusiasm of the audience a little bit. They weren’t sucking!

**It's a wonderful feeling**  
Feel the love in the room  
From the floor to the ceiling  
It's that time of year  
Christmastime is here  
And with the blessings from above  
God sends you his love  
And everything's okay  
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays

They continued to groove to the music.

**Merry Christmas**  
Merry Christmas  
Happy Holidays

**Merry Christmas**  
Merry Christmas  
And Happy Holidays

Len sighed and moved forward for his solo. If his smile was more of a grimace, no one seemed to particularly notice. “ **No matter what your holiday / It's a time to celebrate**.”

Mouths dropped open all over the auditorium. He was _good_!

“ **And put your worries aside**.”

“ **Worries aside** ,” the others crooned with a snake to the right.

“ **And open up your mind**.”

“ **Open up your mind**.” Snake to the left.

“ **See the world right by your side**.” He took a deep breath and belted, “ **It's Christmastime**.”

The screams were overwhelming.

With a smile, Kazuki and Ryoutaro began clapping over their heads. “ **Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas** ”

Azuma and Keiichi joined in mimicking them. “ **Merry Christmas / Happy Holidays** ”

Len at the top of the pyramid began to clap as well. “ **Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas** ”

They stepped side-to-side and snapped. “ **Happy Holidays** ”

Back to the chorus.

**It's a wonderful feeling**  
Feel the love in the room  
From the floor to the ceiling  
It's that time of year  
Christmastime is here  
And with the blessings from above  
God sends you his love  
And everything's okay  
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays

They all roamed different sides of the stage as the audience enthusiastically clapped in time. “ **Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas / And Happy Holidays** ”

Their voices began to fade as they began to walk off-stage.

**Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas**  
And Happy Holidays  
Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas  
Happy Holidays!

Nami was beside herself with excitement as the audience cheered and hollered. They were a hit! She could do a special in the newspaper. Maybe she could sell recordings of the practice sessions and make even more money for the club! Her smile was reminiscent of the cat that got the cream. She was going to milk this for all it was worth. After all, the club could use a new printer.

* * *

**And that's chapter one. Let me know if there are other songs people would like them to "sing." Currently I'm thinking I'll do "The Gift," by 98 Degrees; some song the men's choir at my high school did called, "You're My Christmas Angel," or something like that; All-4-One's "This Christmas" (minus ad-libbing in the middle); and *NSync's "The Only Gift" and/or "All I Want is You This Christmas" (not necessarily in that order), but other than that, I'm not sure what else to do.**


End file.
